Electric furnace.



N0. 843,776. PATENTED FEB. l2, 1907. B. R. TAYLOR.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15,1902.

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PATBNTEB FEB. 12, 190?.

ELECTRIC FURNACE APPLIOA FILED HAY 15.1902.

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PATENTED FEB. 12, 1907.

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R. TAYLOR.

ELECTRIC PURNAU? AIPLIOATION FILED MAY/15.1902.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

EDWARDR. TAYLOR, or PENN YAN, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

V Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed Kay 15, 1902. serial no. 101,433.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD R. TAYLOR,

citizen of the United States, residing at Penn .Y an, in the county of Yates and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Furnaces, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention comprises a metallurgical furnace particularly designed for the production of volatile elements, and preferably of the type wherein the necessary temperature is developed bythe resistance opposed to the electric currentby a body of granular condu'ctive material.

The invention further'comprises a furnace structure wherein the heat developed inthe field of reaction and conveyed therefrom. by

' the volatile reaction products is imparted by such products to the incoming charge and by it returned to said field of reaction. Referring to the accom anying drawings,-

Figure 1 represents the urnace in vertical centralsection on,line 1 Id Fig; 3. Fig. 2' is 'azvertical central'section of the furnace, on

a somewhat reduced scale, 011E116 II II of 3. *Fig.3 is ahorizontalsection on line- III ofz'Fig. 1.; Fig. 4 is a vertical central section on line IV-IV of Fi 3, and Figd5is a reducin chamber 2, and'as aft'3, for the introductlon of the charge and withdrawal of l and mclosingacollectingeehamber 15. Within' the furnace andsornewhat above the base horiz'ontal 'sect'i'ononline- V'of Fig. 4, 3 rises-aibase'1,a

The furnace structure corn certain gaseous reaction products. The base maybe formed, as shown, offa series of maso arches supporting the superstructure are horizontalelectrodes 4, of carbon, preferably graphitized, supported b .masonry Pi tors 5 6. These electrodes are shown as' four in number; but obviously their number may be varied; On either side of each electrode and in close proximity thereto are vertical retaining-walls 7, and hetween'eachpair of walls and near the upper-portion thereof is a charging-aperture ,9 provided with a suitable closure.

In the upper portion of the furnace and shown as supported in part by the walls 7 isa hood or bell 10, flaring outward and downward and serving for the collection and with. drawal of a portion or allof the aseous products of the reaction; This h'oo maybe con- 8 and provided with meta lic conduc struc'ted of iron, steel, or suitable refractory Patented Feb. 12, 1967.

Within the base of the furnace is the.cham-f ber'15 before referred to, which servesfor the.

collection ofce'rtain of the furnace products. I

This chamber communicates with the furnacepro'per by conduits 16, which maybe constructed, as indicated, of fire clay tubes or which may he formed or built within the masonry of the furnace. conduits are provided. with legs 17, extending into the interior of the furnace at a point somewhat above the. electrodes and with As shown, these legs 18 extending to the collecting-chamber 15. Legsl and 20 in prolongation of legs 1'7 and 18 .above mentioned pass through the furnace-walls and are provided with suitable external closures. These extensions afford an opportunity for ins ecting and cleaning the conduits, while by t e provision of a plurality of suchconduits, shown as three in number, the continuity of the operation is assured. In certain cases it may be desirable to withdraw certain of the furnace products through the legs 19. Adja-. cent to these conduits, and preferably arranged at two or more levels in the furnace, are a plurality of screws or equivalent mechanical devices 23 24, constructed and arranged to continuously or fromtime to time force portions of the furnac'echarge through the surrounding charge into the reaction zone. As best shown inFig. 3, a plurality of these screws are arranged radially around the periphery-pf the furnace and in operation" force the material "into the field of As best serve to I reaction. between the electrodes.

shown in Fig. 4:,the screws" are mounted in two or more superposed rows, the. screws 23 of the upper row being bladed at their inner ends onl while the screws 24 of the lower row are laded from their inner end'snearly or quiteto the furnace-walls and incline wardly. towardthe reaction zone. Thopur by stoking through the holes 25.

pose and effect of this construction is to insure that the portions of the charge which descend along the periphery of the furnace past the screws 23 shall be conveyed by the screws 24 to the field of reaction, thereby returning to the reaction zone heat which would otherwise be dissipated through the furnace-walls. A series of stoke-holes 25 are provided at points around the furnace-walls. Tap-holes 26 are provided for the withdrawal of the material from the collectingchamber 15, and tap-holes 27 28 are provided for withdrawingreduction products and slag from beneath the electrodes.

As stated above, the furnace is designed particularly for the treatment of ores or compounds capable of yielding a volatile element. The operation will now be described in connection with the reduction of ores containing zinc, it being understood that the use of the furnace is not limited thereto, but that it is capable of general use in metallurgy.

Ores mixed with carbon and, if desired, with a suitable flux are introduced through charging-openings 22 and pass downward around the hood 10 to the lower portion of the furnace. Divided conductive material, as retort carbon or coke, is introduced through the charging-tubes 9 and gravitates over and between the electrodes 4, filling the space between theiretaining-walls 7 andalso falling between the working faces of the electrodes 4 and there forming a granular bed in which the necessary temperature is developed. This granular bed of carbon between the electrodes constitutes the reaction zone of the furnace. The ore adjacent thereto is brought to a temperature sufficient to deter-.

mine its reduction, and by rotation of the screws .23 24 fresh quantities of. the charge are fed forward into, around, and upon this reaction zone, there to be reduced in turn. This feeding may be aided when necessary As the ore is moved forward into the reaction zone it is replaced by fresh quantities descending around the periphery of the furnace.

Any slag and non-volatile reduction prod- 'ucts collecting beneath the electrodes'may be drawn off through tap-holes-27 28. The gaseous products of reaction, including the gases developed by the reduction, and the zinc or other volatile element of the ore pass upward' toward the interior of the bell or hood 10. The heavier constitutents, as the zinc, will tendt'o pass through the conduits 16 and being condense d therein will collect in the chamber 15, while the fixed gases, or a portion of them, escape through the outlet 14 from the upper portion of the bell 10.

From the collecting-chamber 15 apipe 29, provided with valve 29, extends outward and upward and serves to conduct from the chamber any uncondensed vapors. The

two outlets for vapors 14 and 29 being each provided with suitable valves, the direction of movement of the vapors and gases arising from the reaction may be accurately controlled. By partially closing the valve 1 1 in pipe 14 a "definite movement of the volatile portions of the charge may be maintained chamber 15.

As will readily be understood, the furnace is designed to obviate to the greatest posible degree loss of heat by radiation from the furnace-walls and the corrosive action of the products upon the fixed elements of the furnace. The walls are protected at all points by the incoming charge and streams of conductive material, and the charge being introduced around the periphery of the furnace and thence fed along radial lines to the reaction zone operates to absorb, collect, and return to said reaction zone the heat which would otherwise be lost by radiation from the furnace-walls. Furthermore, the heat which is liberated by the condensation of volatile products in the conduits 16 is imparted in like manner to portions of the charge moving toward the reaction zone. Furthermore, the fixed gases of reaction whether escaping through the hood or hell 10 or through the condensing-conduits 16 in like manner impart their heat to the incoming charge. The result of this construction is a furnace of Very high efliciency.

My invention is not limited to the precise form of furnace illustrated; but modifications through the conduits 16 and the collecting- .may be made within the scope of the claims.

For instance, the-furnace may be constructed of an external wall and an interior chamber spaced away from said wall, a series of condensing-tubes passing through the internal and external walls and the intervening space. In this construction the electrodes are arranged in thelower portion of the furnace, and the volatile products of reaction, passing upward into the inner chamber and thence through the tubes, are in part condensed in the latter. In this construction the ore is fed through the annular chamber between the spaced walls over and around the condensing-tubes, receives the heat liberated by the volatile products, and is then introduced through apertures in the inner wall to the reaction zone.

The process described in connection with this furnace is claimed in my. copending application, Serial No. 109,213, filed May 27,

I claim'.

1. A metallurgical furnace having a reaction zone, and means for feeding ort'ions of the charge through a surrounding ody of the charge to said chamber. i

2. A metallurgical furnace having a reac tion zone, and-means for feeding a suitable charge downwardly in proximity to the periphery of the furnace and then feeding por-- tions of said charge inwardly through a surrounding body of the charge to said chamber.

3. A metallurgical furnace having a reaction zone, a collecti -chamber below said reaction-chamber, add intermediate'conduits, said conduits arranged to traverse the incoming charge.

4. A metallurgical furnace having a reaction zone, a collecting-chamber below said reaction-chamber, and intermediate tortuous conduits, said conduits arranged to traverse the incoming charge.

5. An electric furnace, electrodes therein forming a central reaction zone, means for feeding portions of the charge through a surrounding body of the charge to the reaction zone, and condensing-fines arranged to traverse the charge, whereby the heat liberated by condensatlon of the volatile products is imparted to the incoming charge.

6. An electric furnace, electrodes therein forming a central reaction zone, and means for feeding portions of the charge inwardly through a surrounding body of the charge to said reaction zone.

7. An electric furnace, electrodes therein, a gas-uptake, means for feeding the charge around said uptake and to the electrodes, and a vapor-outlet adjacent the electrodes.

Intestimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD R. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

HENRY H. MoCoRKLE, ALEXANDER HOWELL. 

